This application claims the benefit of the filing of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 61/853,007 filed Mar. 26, 2013, and which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
The present invention is directed to a removable lens strip system suitable for use with protective eyewear or helmet. The inventive system is particularly suitable for use with motorcycle goggles or helmets, wherein the lens or helmet shield will get dirty with mud and debris, thereby reducing visibility and thus causing a danger to the rider. The present invention is also directed to a method of preventing the inadvertent removable of multiple removable lens strips.
Specifically, the system comprises a tear-off guide piece for use with protective eyewear, such as goggles and helmet shields. Currently for off-road motorcycle and all terrain vehicle use, it is common for riders to use a clear removable tear-off lens system secured to the goggles lens, as illustrated and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,716,601 to McNeal (hereinafter '601 patent), which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. As shown in FIG. 2, conventional tear-off systems for goggle lens 4 (such as those described in the '601 patent, for example), comprise a top tear off lens strip 5 and one or more additional tear-off lens strips secured beneath the top tear-off lens strip, with the final tear off lens strip (i.e. the inner-most strip 6) secured directly onto the surface of the goggle lens 4. The tear-off strips are typically secured to the lens by means of tear-off securing posts 9. The elongated tear-off tabs 8 may also be secured via a second tear off securing post 10. The additional tear-off tabs 8 are folded underneath the top tear off tab. This system provides the rider clear vision by enabling the rider to remove the top clear tear off lens strip when it has become covered with dirt, mud, or debris. When the top tear off strip is pulled and removed via an extended top tear off tab 7, the additional tear off tab 8 on the next tear off lens strip extends to become the new top tear off lens strip on the goggles lens. The top tear off is removed by the rider by grasping with the thumb and forefinger 12 and pulling forward. The rider must use care to grab only the top tear-off lens strip, however. If the additional tear off strips are grabbed, then multiple tear off lens strips may be pulled inadvertently, leaving the rider with fewer, or no, additional tear off lens strips with which to clear vision.
In order to prevent the inadvertent removal of underlying tear-off strips, the current invention includes a tear off guide piece 11 which provides a means to shield the folded over underlying tear off strips and guide the rider's hand 12 to the top-most tear off lens strip tab 7, thus preventing the additional tear off lens strip tabs from being pulled inadvertently.
As discussed in more detail below, certain aspects of the present invention are directed to a removable lens strip tear-off system suitable for use with goggles and headwear shields and comprises a stack of at least two removable lens strips secured next to one another by at least one securing post. The stack includes a top-most strip and an inner-most strip, wherein the inner most strip is secured directly to a top surface of the eyewear lens system. Each of the strips has an extended tab configured to allow the user to remove the top-most strip from the stack. Each of the extended tabs of the strips underlying the top-most strip are folded upon itself and not fully extended until becoming the top-most strip. The inventive system further includes a guide piece positioned adjacent to a securing post to create a space therebetween wherein the underlying extended tabs are housed. As a result of this arrangement, the guide piece is positioned near the extended tab of the inner most strip, such that the inner-most strip tab is shielded by the guide piece. As the user grabs the tab of the top-most lens strip, the guide piece prevents the user from removing underlying lens strips as the user's hand, generally the thumb, comes in contact with the guide piece.
In other aspects of the invention, the eyewear system may comprise goggles having either a strap for attachment to the user's helmet or head as well as eye lens upon which the stack of removable strips are secured. The guide piece may be secured to the strap. In other embodiments, the goggles may include a pair of ear pieces, with the guide piece secured to one of the ear pieces.
In other aspects of the invention, the guide piece includes an elongated platform subjacent the innermost elongated tab and a post integral with, and extending from, the platform, wherein the elongated tabs of the removable lens strips are secured to the post. In this embodiment, the guide piece platform may be secured to the goggle frames or to the goggle strap or helmet.
The present invention is also directed to a method for preventing the inadvertent removal of multiple lens strips from eyewear lens. Specifically, the method includes the steps of attaching a stack of removable lens strips to an eyewear lens. In this step, the stack comprises at least two removable lens strips which are secured to the eyewear lens system one another by at least one securing post. The stack of lens strips includes a top-most strip and an inner-most strip, wherein the inner-most strip is secured directly to the top surface of the eyewear lens. Each of the strips further includes an extended tab configured to allow a user to remove the top-most strip from the stack. Second, the method includes the step of attaching a guide piece near the stack of tear-off strips such that the guide piece is positioned adjacent to the securing post and near the extended tab of the inner-most strip. As shown in the figures, the securing post and guide post are positioned such that a space is created therebetween to house the extended strip tabs. Next, the method comprises removing only the top-most lens strip from the stack by securing, with a thumb and finger, an extended tab of the top-most lens strip, the guide piece shielding the thumb and finger from grasping tabs of the underlying lens strips until such underlying lens strips become a top-most lens strip.
In the inventive method, the eyewear system may comprise goggles, the goggles including one or more eye lens upon which the stack of removable strips are secured and a strap for attachment to the user's helmet or head. In this method, the guide piece may be secured to the goggles strap, to the goggles frame, or to the helmet. The guide piece in this method may alternatively include an elongated platform subjacent the inner-most elongated tab and a post integral with, and extending from, the platform, and wherein the elongated tabs of the removable lens strips are secured to the post. The platform may be secured to the goggles frames, to the goggles strap, or to the helmet.